A prison system on the verge of collapse
More than three people in four are victims of judicial error. People plead guilty just to stay out of Quezon City Jail waiting for trial.
Manila (AsiaNews) After seven years in the overcrowded Quezon City Jail, Raymond Narag was found not guilty. At the time of his arrest in 1995 on charges of murder he was studying law and was expected to graduate with high marks. When he left prison in 2002, his studies and marks were no longer valid.
Today, Raymond Narag is a consultant on prison reform for the Philippines' Supreme Court. In a press conference organized yesterday by the Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care, he presented the results of a seven-month research on the prison system that shows that his case is not an isolated one. In fact, too many people are in jail awaiting trial and suffering because of it.
"Inmates are dying in our city jails at an alarming rate," he said. "They are suffering from boils, tuberculosis, chicken pox and other simple but highly communicable diseases. Just in the Quezon City Jail alone, there are two to five deaths per month." And, he added, "the sad fact is that they are dying before being sentenced." Only when they are found guilty and sentenced are they taken to the National Penitentiary in Muntinlupa, on the outskirts of Manila, where conditions are better.
"Unfortunately, there is this perception in Filipino society that once a person is in prison, he is already guilty. But, as my own experience shows, that is not true," Raymond said. His opinion is backed by a Supreme Court report which indicates that 77 per cent of all cases that come before the courts are the result of judicial error.
Since the passing of anti-drug law two years ago, the prison population rose from 36,000 to 54,000, while the overall budget for prisons remained around 1.9 billion pesos (US$ 34 million or 26 million) per year. This means that the number of jails, the size of prison staff and basic provisions have remained the same. Since the money allocated for food (35 pesos per prisoner per day: US 62 cents or 46 cents) is based on 2002 levels when the inmate population was 36,000, and not 54,000, the net result is a net drop per capita. Similarly, the number of legal aid lawyers attached to the Public Attorney's Office and the number of judges have remained the same while the case load has gone up. No wonder that the average pre-sentence detention time is now 3.2 years.
Quezon City Jail was built for only 815 detainees. Now, it houses about 3,400 inmates. This means that each prisoner has 0.28 sq2 m of living space which is way below the 3 sq2 m per person the United Nations considers the minimum standard for the treatment of prisoners.
According to Raymond Narag, things are made worse because "many inmates plead guilty not because they are guilty, but just to get out [of Quezon City Jail]" and get into the National Penitentiary where conditions are better.
As conditions worsened, the prisoners took things into their own hands and developed what is called the VIP (Very Important Person) system. It involves, among other things, getting the more affluent inmates to contribute financially to cell maintenance and provide some money to those who are released. It also involves inmate-developed conflict resolution rules and mechanisms. This has resulted in a unique synthesis of formal informal rules of jail management.
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